Love and Scandal
by godcomplexLoading
Summary: Affection wasn't something that came naturally to him. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly and in very small cups.
1. Lack of Crocus

**Summary:** Affection wasn't something that came naturally to him. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly and in very small cups.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned The Last Airbender, that movie would never have happened and Korra wouldn't have been so unlikable. As it is, the universe conspired against me, so I'm left to write confusing romance fics with no real plot or direction. Make of that what you will, Nickolodeon.

**Author's Note:** Yup This is what my mind makes when I'm really bored. Random bursts of romance I write in between chapters of my other A:TLA fic, which may or may not ever come to fruition.

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Lack of Crocus

The first time he burned her, it was, of course, an accident. The first time he started a fire, however, was not.

It was a matter of curiosity, of science, really. He knew she was a Water Bender…that was, after all, her appeal, wasn't it? That was why his father kept her around. Some kind of perverse pleasure was in it, he was sure, having their greatest enemy serve them faithfully and silently. But in the years that she had been around, Zuko had never once see the Tribe girl move a single drop. Of course, she hardly needed to. She was perfect.

But that didn't stop him trying. He dropped cups, he knocked over pots, he did whatever he could to knock water around and force her to bend it to prevent disaster. But she was too quick for him, too well-prepared, and he was often thwarted with her quick fingers and deft movements.

This time, though…this time, he would get his just reward. After a full night lying awake thinking about it, all it took was a twitching finger, a forceful thought, and the smallest flame was set. He was like _fire_, he thought, determined and all-consuming and, best of all, in desperate need of a little waterworks.

Of course, the thing about fire is how uncontrollable it was, and everything went awry about three seconds later. All that planning, and in the end, all Zuko walked away with was a burned sleeve and an arm covered in scalding hot tea.

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_the resilient crocus, a purplish hue, represents foresight_


	2. Flowering Almond

**Summary:** Affection wasn't something that came naturally to him. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly and in very small cups.

**Author's Note:** This is gonna be drabbles, ya'll. I'm not entirely pleased with this one, but after five or six rewrites, this is as good as it's gonna get. I'm also doing something a little different with chapter titles, if anyone cares.

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Flowering Almond

_She didn't say a word, but her smile spoke volumes._

The nine-year-old heir and the seven-year-old slave faced each other with naught but empty tea cups between them. Steam rose and illuminated young faces. She waited in patient silence and he seethed with words unsaid.

The despair poured out of him like a flood and he drowned in it. And when he was gasping for air, a pair of brown hands extended to him, holding a teacup with a bright pink flower floating in a tiny amber sea. He didn't understand why it calmed him, but it did. When she was turned, he took the flower and he kept it in his sleeve.

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_flowering almond, a pink and white bloom, represents hope_


	3. Belladonna

**Summary:** Affection wasn't something that came naturally to him. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly and in very small cups.

**Author's Note**: Not entirely pleased with this chapter, but what can you do.

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Belladonna

She never said a word. He thought it was impossible for a person to be completely silent, but she was. He knew she _could_ speak, because everyone _could_ speak, but for some reason, she _didn't_. He had heard her, once, muttering to his uncle in reply to some loud and obvious comment about the quality of her tea. He once heard her murmur thanks to his mother, but had been too far away to know any more than the fact that her lips were moving. Even his cousin Fa had commented once how the Water Tribe girl had spoken to him about the weather, and had a voice like flowing rivers.

At first, Zuko had resented how silent she was. No matter how he cajoled, questioned, begged, or screwed up, the tea girl's lips were sealed to him.

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_the dark and deadly belladonna represents silence_


	4. Flax

**Summary:** Affection wasn't something that came naturally to him. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly and in very small cups.

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Flax

Her face was beet red and her eyes were downturned. Even so, he could feel her terror. Her mistake would be her demise. Without thinking, he leaned forward, grabbing a napkin and pressing it against his father's sleeve, though he was immediately pushed away.

"Forgive me, Father!" he murmured, unease adding the perfect quiver to his voice and making the deceit complete. "I didn't mean to—"

Ozai roughly waved off both his son and his apology. "So clumsy," he mumbled, but for once the harshness in his voice didn't seem to hurt. As Zuko settled back into his seat, he dared to look across the table and found her gaze was on him. Though she didn't speak, her eyes shone brightly and her lips formed a silent word.

_"Thanks."_

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_the flax, which comes in both blue and red, says 'I feel your kindness'_


	5. Peach

**Summary:** Affection wasn't something that came naturally to him. It was like everything else he reached for. It was elusive, ever escaping his grasp, and burning into ashes when his fingers curled around it. But luckily for him…love came armed with a teapot. A love story brewed very slowly and in very small cups.

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Peach

Zuko panted, his legs threatening to fail beneath him as he walked from the ring with a strange mix of shame and elation. Sweat poured off of him and his breath was ragged and wheezy. He hadn't done as well as Azula…that was impossible. But he hadn't _lost_. He'd _won_. He searched the crowd eagerly for two faces, one like his own and the other…the other a few shades darker.

The exhausted prince barely made it to his spot to sit down, his body giving out at just the right time. Soft footsteps approached and he looked up into a pair of clear blue eyes. A cup was pushed towards him and, bewildered, he accepted. As she turned away, Zuko couldn't stop himself, leaning forward.

"Did you…did I…you…did I do okay?" He immediately regretted saying a thing as the tangled mess of words fell out of his mouth.

She turned to him, her face turned a strange shade by the shadows, and she nodded.

Never, Zuko thought, had tea ever tasted sweeter.

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_the peach bloom states that your qualities, like your charms, are unequaled_


End file.
